(Nice to know Jackson doesn't have a care in the world after making a fortune off Dolan while making the Knicks an even bigger laughingstock league wide.)

The photo was the final slap in the face to Knicks fans who believed Jackson was a savior. Instead, the Zen Capitalist went 80-166 and was feuding with the Knicks' two biggest stars, Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis, on his way out.

David Griffin was not willing to hand over authority for a paycheck. (Joshua Gunter/AP)

And now the Knicks won't have Griffin to clean up Jackson's mess.

Griffin is no longer in the running to become Knicks general manager because, as ESPN reported, he and the Knicks "were at odds over Griffin not having full authority on basketball decisions and over Griffin's preference to bring in his own staff."

Wow. Griffin has some nerve to want to bring in his guys and overhaul a front office that has delivered one playoff series victory in 17 years.

Seriously, how can a franchise expect to change for the better when it refuses to change at all?

In breaking off negotiations with the Knicks, Griffin exposed one of the longest running problems at the Garden. The perception around the league is that too many inside the organization are too consumed by surviving as opposed to winning.

The next GM needs to have the power to assemble his own staff, including scouts. Maybe that GM will value some of the holdovers but that needs to be his choice.

If the GM wants to clean house, so be it. The Garden is a big company that has teams in the WNBA and the G-League. The new general manager, Dolan and Steve Mills can find a soft landing spot for long-time employees.

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What the Knicks refuse to acknowledge is that their way is not working. When Jackson arrived he mostly inherited a staff, including Mills. It's the same staff the Knicks wanted Griffin to inherit with Mills now above him in the pecking order.

Jackson did bring in Clarence Gaines as his top adviser and appointed Kurt Rambis as his eyes and ears on the bench. But there were limits to what Jackson could do, including opposition from Dolan when Jackson tried to hire Steve Kerr, who coincidentally once worked with Griffin in Phoenix. Dolan also wasn't too keen on Rambis being promoted from interim to head coach.

A month after Jackson was hired, he attempted to overhaul the medical staff but was denied. Jackson's idea was to hire former Lakers physiotherapist Alex McKechnie from the Toronto Raptors. But McKechnie, after meeting with the Knicks medical department, wasn't interested in having to answer to someone above him.

James Dolan must let the new GM bring in his own staff if he wants to build a winner. (Kathy Willens/AP)

Griffin wasn't going to forfeit any power either after spending the last few years working for Cavs owner Dan Gilbert and having LeBron James use his considerable weight to get things, and players, he wanted. Going in, Griffin knew that a potential relationship with the Knicks would be problematic. The dead giveaway was Mills, who is hoping to be appointed to Knicks president, giving Tim Hardaway Jr. $71 million over four years.

Hardaway Jr. will be introduced to the media Monday and apparently Mills won't be there. That's a huge mistake.

Mills signed Hardaway. He needs to address that decision. It would also be nice if Mills discussed his GM search as well, but that's probably asking for too much.

Mills is smart enough to know that the Knicks could have won the GM press conference by hiring Griffin, who was part of a Cavs organization that reached three straight NBA Finals. He is a hot name.

Now the Knicks have to turn to someone else and that to-be-named GM will have to play by the Garden's rules.

That means inheriting a staff that hasn't produced many wins over the years. That means being a GM with limited control while looking like someone who just took the job because it pays well.